With the help of the Research and Documentation Division of the European
Court of Justice, we compiled information on all of the preliminary references
filed with the European Court since the first reference in 1961. The most
recently collected data end, for most countries, in May or June of 1998. We
hope to update this data periodically.

In 1996-97, we coded and analysed all preliminary references filed
through mid-1995 (see Scholarly Literature section below). This data set
contained the first 2,978 references filed, which invoked 3,805 different
claims of EC law (see the discussion of legal subject matters in Appendix D
below). In 1998-99, we coded all preliminary references filed through mid-1998.
This new data set, which we make accessible here, contains the first 3,714
reference filed, which invoke 4,974 separate claims.

At this website, you will be able to download the data set in Excel
format. You can then translate the file into a statistics program, such as
STATA or SPSS, in order to search and sort references along any one dimension,
or combination of dimensions, including the following: date, member state,
court of referral, legal domain or subject matter (e.g., competitition,
environmental protection, free movement of goods), and the official European
Court Reports citation. Thus, if you were doing research in the area of
free movement of workers, you could instantly call up a list of all references
made, and be in the position to compare litigation patterns across time,
member-state, and across jurisdictions within any given member-state; you would
also obtain information on whether the reference has led to a judgement of the
Court, or whether it is still pending or has been disposed of in some other
way.

To take an example, if you were to call up the Dassonville case
(European Court of Justice Case 8/1974, European Court Reports 1974, p. 837)
using the STATA command - "list if filedate= =1974 & case= =8" - you would
be presented with this information:

country:

2

filedate:

1974

case:

8

decision:

1

referent:

219

matter1:

370

matter2:

347

matter3:

.

matter4:

.

matter5:

.

freemove:

1

agri:

0

compet:

1

external:

0

socsec:

0

socprov:

0

environ:

0

estab:

0

movework:

0

tax:

0

transprt:

0

commpolc:

0

apprxlaw:

0

This entry is to be read as follows:

 Line 1 ("country") provides a code for the member-state of
origin, in this case "2," which is Belgium. Codes for member-states are listed
in Appendix A.

 Line 2 ("filedate") gives the year of the preliminary reference,
in this case "1974," and line 3 ("case") gives the number assigned to the
reference, that year, by the European Court of Justice, in this case, "8."

 Line 4 ("decision") tells you that the case was disposed of by a
judgement of the Court, which is coded "1," as opposed to pending (coded "3")
or having been withdrawn (coded "4"). Codes for "decision" are listed in
Appendix B.

 Line 5 ("referent") provides the code for the national court that
filed the preliminary reference, in this case coded "219," which refers to a
Belgian tribunal de premiere instance. Codes for national courts are listed in
Appendix C.

 Lines 6-10, marked "matter1," "matter2," etc., concern the
substantive area of EC law invoked by the referring court, in this case free
movement of goods/measures having equivalent effect, which is coded "370," and
competition/exclusive contracts, which is coded "347." Codes for legal subject
matters are listed in Appendix D. All references invoke between 1 and 5
different substantive areas (with the exception of certain "joined references,"
which may have 0; see discussion for Appendix B). In the Dassonville
case, the referring judge raised questions in two such areas, but not more than
two, which is why the entries for "matter3," matter4," and "matter5" are filled
only with a period, "." (i.e., the data are missing). Codes for legal subject
matters are listed in Appendix D.

 Lines 11-23: as described in the introduction to Appendix D, we
(Alec Stone Sweet and Thomas L. Brunell) commonly aggregate subject matters
into larger meta-categories for purposes of counting and analysis. For
each reference, you will find the thirteen most important such meta-categories
listed. In this case, the referring judge raised one question falling within
the free movement of goods (counting variable labeled "freemove"), and another
within competitition (counting variable labeled "compet").

Scholarly Literature

The following articles making use of this data set have been
published:

Alec Stone Sweet and Thomas L. Brunell. 1998. "The
European Courts and the National Courts: A Statistical Analysis of Preliminary
References, 1961-95." Journal of European Public Policy 5 (1):
66-97.

The hard copy versions of these data are stored in two locations: (1)
the Global Peace and Conflict Studies Center, the School of Social Sciences,
the University of California, Irvine, CA, USA (Wayne Sandholtz, Director); (2)
the Robert Schuman Centre, the European University Institute, San Domenico di
Fiesole, Italy (Yves Meny, Director).

Appendix A:
Member-States

References were coded in terms of their member-state of
origin, as follows:

COUNTRY

CODE

Austria

1

Belgium

2

Denmark

3

Finland

4

France

5

Germany

6

Greece

7

Ireland

8

Italy

9

Luxembourg

10

Netherlands

11

Portugal

12

Spain

13

Sweden

14

United Kingdom

15

Appendix B: Current Status of
References

References were coded in terms of their current judicial
status, as follows:

STATUS

CODE

Cases ended by a judgement of the Court

1

Cases ended by an order of the Court

2

Cases whose resolution is pending

3

Cases removed from the register

4

Cases joined to another case

5

Information on the status of references filed prior to mid-1995 have not
been updated, that is, the data set indicates the situation current as of
mid-1995. Thus, a reference from 1994 and coded as pending may well have been
decided. For references filed since mid-1995, the data set indicates the
situation current as of mid-1998.

Typically, the Court "joins" references cases that are filed by the same
national judge, on the same day, involving the same legal dispute (although
each reference involves a separate litigating party). Information concerning
legal subject matters (Appendix D) does not always appear. In our analyses of
the 1961-1995 data, we did not exempt joined cases (of which there were 413).
In our analyses of the 1961-1998 data, we treat each complex of joined cases as
a single reference, by dropping those coded "5." There are 579 joined cases in
the data set made available here.

Appendix C: National Courts of
Referral

COUNTRY AND COURT

CODE

Austria

Oberster Gerichtshof

101

Handelsgericht Wien

102

Bundesvergabeamt

103

Oberlandesgericht Wien

104

Verwaltungsgerichtshof

105

Bezirksgericht

106

Landesgericht

107

Landesvergabeamt

108

ASVG-Landesberufungs Kommission für das Burgenland

109

Belgium

Arbeidshof

201

Arbeidsrechtbank

202

Bestendige Deputatie

203

Commission de Réclamation de Liége

204

Conseil dAppel dExpression Française de
lOrdre des Architectes

205

Conseil de Prudhommes dAppel

206

Conseil dEtat

207

Cour dAppel

208

Cour de Cassation

209

Cour du Travail

210

Hof van Beroep

211

Hof van Cassatie

212

Justice de paix

213

Politierechtbank

214

Rechtbank van Eerste Aanleg

215

Rechtbank van Koophandel

216

Tribunal de Commerce

217

Tribunal de Police

218

Tribunal de Première Instance

219

Tribunal de Travail

220

Vredegerecht

221

Raad van State

222

Tribunal Correctionnel

223

Denmark

Aalborg By- og Herredsret

301

Arbejdsretten

302

Faglige Voldgiftsret

303

Hojesteret

304

Kobenhavns Byret

305

Kriminalret Slagelse

306

Kriminal- og Skifteret i Hjorring

307

Retten i Nykobing Sjaelland

308

So- og Handelsretten

309

Oestre Landsret

310

Vestre Landsret

311

Civilretten I Hillerod

312

France

Conseil dEtat

501

Cour de Cassation

502

Cour dAppel

503

Commission de première Instance

504

Conseil de lOrdre

505

Tribunal Administratif

506

Tribunal dInstance

507

Tribunal de Commerce

508

Tribunal de Grande Instance

509

Tribunal de Police

510

Tribunal des Affaires de Sécurité Sociale

511

Cour Administrative dAppel

512

Germany

Amtsgericht

601

Arbeitsgericht

602

Bundesfinanzhof

603

Bundesgerichtshof

604

Bundessozialgericht

605

Bundesverwaltungsgericht

606

Finanzgericht

607

Landesgericht

608

Landesarbeitsgericht

609

Landessozialgericht

610

Oberlandesgericht

611

Oberverwaltungsgericht

612

Sozialgericht

613

Verwaltungsgerichtshof

614

Verwaltungsgericht

615

Kannmergericht

616

Bundesarbeitsgericht

617

Greece

Conseil dEtat

701

Cour Administrative dAppel

702

Cour dAppel

703

Cour des Comptes

704

Tribunal Administratif

705

Tribunal Collegial de Première Instance

706

Tribunal de Première Instance

707

UNCODED

799

Ireland

Circuit Court

801

Circuit Family Court

802

District Court

803

High Court

804

Labor Court

805

Supreme Court

806

Italy

Commissione Tributaria Centrale

901

Commissione Tributaria di Primo Grado

902

Conciliatura

903

Consiglio di Stato

904

Consiglio Nazionale Forense

905

Corte dAppello

906

Corte Suprema

907

Giudice Conciliatore

908

Pretura

909

Pretura Circondariale

910

Pretura Circondariale di Torino

911

Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale

912

Tribunale Civile e Penale

913

Ufficio di Conciliazione

914

Corte di Cassazione

915

Corte dei Conti

916

Luxembourg

Commission Gouvernementale pour la Suppression

1001

Conseil Arbitral des Assurances Sociales

1002

Conseil dEtat

1003

Conseil Supérieur des Assurances Sociales

1004

Cour dAppel

1005

Cour de Cassation

1006

Directeur des Contributions

1007

Directes et des Accises

1008

Tribunal Arbitral pour le Contestations

1009

Tribunal de Paix de Luxembourg

1010

Tribunal dArrondissement de Luxembourg

1011

Tribunal de Police

1012

Tribunal Administratif

1013

Netherlands

Arrondissementsrechtbank

1101

Centrale Raad van Beroep

1102

Commissie van Beroep Huisartsgeneeskunde

1103

College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleve

1104

Gerechtshof

1105

Hoge Raad

1106

Kantongerecht

1107

Raad van Beroep

1108

Raad van State

1109

Tariefcommissie

1110

Scheidsgerecht van het Beambtenfonds

1111

Portugal

Supremo Tribunal Administrative

1201

Tribunal Cível da Comarca

1202

Tribunal de Relaçao

1203

Tribunal Fiscal Aduaneiro

1204

Tribunal Tributario de Segun da Instância

1205

Tribunal de Círculo

1206

Spain

Audiencia Nacional

1301

Audiencia Territorial

1302

Juzgado Central de lo Penal de la Audiencia Nacional

1303

Juzgado de lo Social No. 2

1304

Juzgado de Instruccion

1305

Juzgado de lo Penal

1306

Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instrucci

1307

Magistratura de Trabajo

1308

Tribunal Central de Trabajo

1309

Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia

1310

Tribunal Económico-Administrativo

1311

Central

1312

Tribunal Superior de Justicia

1313

Tribunal Supremo

1314

Sweden

Högsta Domstolen

1401

Landskrona Tingsrätt

1402

Marknadsdomstolen

1403

Länsratten

1404

Kammarrätten

1405

Svea Hovrätt

1406

Skatterättsnämnden

1407

Helsingborgs Tingsrät

1408

Regeringsrätten

1409

Arbetsdomstol

1410

United Kingdom

Special Commissioners for the Purposes of the Income Tax
Acts

1501

County Court

1502

Court of Appeal

1503

Crown Court

1504

Employment Appeal Tribunal

1505

House of Lords

1506

High Court of Justice

1507

Magistrates Court

1508

National Insurance Commissioner

1509

Social Security Commissioner

1510

Value Added Tax Tribunal

1511

Industrial Tribunal

1512

Court of Session

1513

Deputy High Bailiffs Court

1514

Sheriff Court

1515

Royal Court

1516

Immigration Adjudicator

1517

Appendix D: Substantive Areas of EC
Law

We coded information on the substantive area of EC law being
litigated using a reference system developed by the European Court. The Court
classifies each reference in terms of one or more legal domains, or legal
subject matters, as delimited by the EC treaties, using a system of
abbreviations. We have given each of these classifications a number. Although
there are a handful of exceptions, references falling within the purview of the
ECSC comprise a 100-series; those falling within the purview of the EAEC make
up a 200-series; and references on EEC law constitute a 300-series. In the
100-series (ECSC), you will find two 300-series (EEC) codes (for "industrial
policy" and "state aids") cross referenced with 100-series codes; and, in one
case (transportation), a 300-series code substitutes for a 100-series code.
This occurs because the Court itself has coded some references with the same
abbreviation, without regard to treaty. One can determine the treaty-basis of
the reference only by reading the case, if it has been decided.

In our analyses of the data published in 1998 (literature cited
above), we commonly aggregated references that fell with the same legal domain,
by constructing a system of ordinal variables that would, for example, sort all
references falling within the 302-335 code range into a meta,
agriculture category (variable labeled "agri"), and those falling within
the 367-375 range into a meta, free movement of goods category (variable
labeled "freemove"). These meta-categories are marked with the variable label
on the first line of any sub-grouping of subject matters, and continue until
that group is set off by a blank space. We combined same or similar categories
across treaties: thus, references falling within the meta category for
competition in the ECSC (coded 103-109) were combined with those falling within
the meta category for competition in the EC (coded 343-350).

Taken together, the meta-categories contain roughly 90% of total
subject matters invoked in references. For each reference, coded entries
consist of a number between 0 and 5, with 0 indicated that none of the claims
fall within the subject matter denoted by that metacategory, and 1 through 5
indicating how many different claims fall within a single metacategory of EC
law. Thus, if a reference invoked both UNDERTAKINGS (coded as 346) and DOMINANT
POSITION (coded as 348) with the competition domain, you would find a "2"
entered after the metacategory "compet." In other words, a metacategory is a
counting variable.